The giggles of two children filter through the Cops 'n' Kids Reading Room in Bethlehem as they follow the antics of a pushy pigeon in the Mo Willems classic picture book "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!"

All around the cozy space on the fourth floor of Northampton Community College's south Bethlehem site are smiling faces, from the shy grin of a first-grader picking out an easy reader to the ear-to-ear beam of one of the 100 volunteers who help kids search for the perfect book.

Big comfy couches and chairs with cozy pillows invite youngsters to settle in for a good read. Copies of children's perennial favorites such as Judy Moody and Flat Stanley fill the sturdy wooden shelves. And best of all, if they like the book, they can take it home.

Since it opened in 2005, the Reading Room has become a place for children and families to read together, share stories and take home up to five books for free. Every Wednesday year-round the Reading Room is open to the public. During the school year it also offers programs on Saturdays.

"If we get these kids reading, they're golden," says Beverly Bradley, a retired Southern Lehigh teacher and president of the Lehigh Valley Cops 'N' Kids. "It's life altering knowing the community cares about your mind."

In 2003, Bradley worked through Quota International of Bethlehem to start a chapter of the Cops 'N' Kids Children's Literacy Program, a national initiative founded by a police officer from Racine, Wis.

"My original goal was to give out 1,000 books," she says.

Bradley ran the program from a spare bedroom in her Bethlehem home.

"My dream was to have a room where children and their parents came for books," she says. "I wanted to connect the community."

When the program won a state award for giving out 30,000 books in 2005, it came to the attention of Paul Pierpoint, NCC dean of community education, and he offered Bradley a room in the college's new South Side center.

The ever-resourceful Bradley furnished the new public space entirely with donations of new furniture, shelving and carpeting. "I wanted the room to be bright and beautiful," she says.

The program, which has given out more than 430,000 books to date, runs on literally no budget. The only costs are for printing labels and brochures, for which Bradley solicits donations.

"We're not affected by the economic downturn," she says. "It's so simple. We have volunteers and we collect used books. It's like a gigantic recycling program giving back to the community."

Wednesdays, Chris Sexton, the coordinator of the Reading Room, thinks nothing of getting down on her hands and knees to connect with her young charges.

"There are kids who don't touch the book because they'd don't know they can," she says. "Some kids may just take only one book and others just want to talk. I'm that kid's friend. It is a responsibility and it's rewarding that they look up to me."

In the basement of the building two storage rooms are filled with boxes of donated books that are carefully sorted by volunteers. Many of the volunteers are retired teachers who "understand the value of literacy," Bradley says.

But it's Bradley, with her amazing ability to get people and companies engaged, who is the driving force behind the organization.

At her behest, Bethlehem's chief of police cooked 2,000 hot dogs at the recent Celebration of Reading event and Bethlehem Mayor John Callahan found himself personally shaking the hands of 550 children at a Cops 'N' Kids program at a South Side school.

There are hundreds of inspiring stories: a senior citizen in a wheelchair who "adopted" a young child as her grandchild after delivering a book; a boy who surprised his teachers when he learned to read by coming to the Reading Room regularly; and a student who carried her valuable "library" of books from the program in her backpack at all times.

"We have parents who cry when they see the books," Bradley says. "Many people are afraid of libraries because of the bureaucracy. You have to fill out a form to get a library card. Here you don't have to do anything. I love how it's evolved. This is so far beyond what I expected."

Bradley says statistics show the average middle-income child is read to 1,000 to 1,700 hours before starting school but a poor child is only read to 25 hours.

"If we don't close that gap we're in trouble," she says. "Here nobody pays anything. We want to give every child the same chance at success."

And NCC is an enthusiastic partner.

"We love having the Reading Room in our building," says Gail Mrowinski, associate dean of community education. "It aligns with our mission of literacy. This is just the beginning."

She said the fourth floor houses the college's adult literacy center so "it all fits together nicely."

"Our whole goal was to open it up to the public," she says. "Plus the children learn about college. They are exposed to and become comfortable in college. When all the connections are there you can accomplish a lot."

The program also involves students from area colleges and high schools collecting books and reading to children.

Now the Easton Police Athletic League is interested in setting up a reading room in Easton and is looking for a space.

"It's just been snowballing," Mrowinski says. "Books bring people together and everyone has good memories of some book they loved. It's contagious."

kathy.lauer@mcall.com

610-778-2235

COPS 'N' KIDS READING ROOM

What: Reading room that provides a place for children and families to read together, share stories, and select up to five books to take home for free.